The Audubon Society said the oldest wild banded bald eagle on record in the U.S. died a few weeks ago, but its death wasn't in vain, according to the report.

According to the report, the bald eagle, identified as Eagle 629-03142, was struck by a car in Henrietta, New York. Officials believe the bald eagle, 38, was possibly tearing into a roadkill carcass when it was struck.

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The Audubon Society said Eagle 629-03142 was an alumnus of a conservation program that brought back eagles from near extinction in New York. The male eagle's journey started when he was hatched in 1977.

"At the time, bald eagles were on the endangered species list -- at their lowest point, in 1963, only 487 breeding pairs remained in the lower 48 states," the Audubon Society said in its report.

While there was some improvement in numbers by 1974, recovery was a slow process. DDT had been outlawed a few years before, but still remained in the bodies of eagles, leaving their eggshells weakened.

"In the state of New York, only one breeding pair was left in the wild, in a nest by the shores of Hemlock Lake -- and they kept accidentally smashing every egg they laid," the report said.

In comes Eagle 629-03142, who was taken to New York's Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge after he hatched near a lake in northern Minnesota. He joined a few other eaglets from other states to help replace New York's absent eagles.

Through a process called "hacking," the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation aimed to get the eagles to imprint on their new location and not people. Hacking involves hiding from the young birds and housing them in cages on stilts.

The biologists in New York hoped the eagles would stick around their new home after they fledged and they did. Eagle 629-03142 took the place of New York's last original breeding pair after the male eagle died.

"Over the next few decades, 03142 fathered many young eaglets, doing his part to push his species out of danger," the Audubon Society reports.

Over the years, the species recovered and biologists stopped tracking Eagle 629-03142's every move. Biologists believe he stayed near the nest for the rest of his life since he was found dead only 25 miles away.

"03142 is no longer with us, but he wasn't the last of the eagles from the NYSDEC program. The Montezuma Refuge currently hosts several active eagle nests, including a rare 'triple nest,' watched over by a female eagle," the report states.

The eagles in New York may not live as long as Eagle 629-03142 -- the typical eagle lifespan is about 20 years -- but biologists hope the dangers from humans and accidental poisoning will continue to reduce.

"The species' future is much, much brighter than it seemed 38 years ago," the Audubon Society says.

During the most recent official count, in 2006 there were at least 9,738 breeding pairs of bald eagles in the lower 48 states and thousands more in Alaska.